Serves me right for being vain... (Jolen Creme Bleach)

Member Name: Jess-L

Product:	Jolen Creme Bleach
Date:	08/07/04 (3985 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Works, Fairly inexpensive

Disadvantages: Burns, Isn't that effective

Because my eyebrows are naturally a bushy nightmare, I have 'fat-person' paranoia - although they are much slimmer and tidier than they used to be, I can't help comparing mine with other peoples - are theirs in better shape? What tweezers do they use? Will anyone realise my carefully shaped brows used to be hairy, shapeless rectangles? I even forked out 12 quid for a pair of tweezers - it was painful but an investment! (Yes I need to wake up to real life and stop being so vain!)

When I first started plucking my eyebrows, aged 12, I made the mistake of tweezing the hairs above the eyebrow. They seem to grow back much faster than the hairs below my eyebrow do, which annoy me! I have to do my eyebrows every day, they're part of my ritual - cleanse, tone, moisturise, pluck! Lately though, I just can't be bothered doing the hairs above the eyebrow every single day, so decided to buy some wax. Then quickly changed my mind, and decided facial bleach would be a much better option! Which is why, last week, I was lurking around the hair removal aisle in Boots at the Trafford Centre, a box of Jolen facial bleach in my sweaty palm, praying that nobody I know would go past!

So, what do I think of it? My first thoughts were that you don't get a lot for your money - inside the ordinary-looking cardboard box is a tiny, Barbie-sized 30ml jar of creme bleach, a plastic spatula and a 7g tube of 'accelerator' powder, which I assume is to speed up the bleaching process. A quick look at the ingredients and it seemed easy enough; in fact I was quite optimistic!

I scooped out a small blob of the cream, scraping it onto the lid of the jar, and added a half-spatula of powder. I tried mixing it, as stated, with the spatula, but it's better to use your finger as the powder and cream do not mix together pro
perly otherwise. Once it's prepared, you smear it onto the areas you want lightened, wait for ten minutes, then remove. Simple?

Er, no. It's simple enough applying it; it looks like a odourless, creamy, white face mask and at first seems quite pleasant. That is until the pain sets in! This stuff stings like hell! I was really alarmed at first but the skin underneath wasn't red or anything so I stuck with it, praying it wouldn't burn my skin off! You are recommended to leave this stuff on for ten-fifteen minutes, but I had to take it off after ten because the stinging had turned to full-blown burning. My eyes were literally watering and I was in actual pain! I was concerned about the state of my skin - once I had rinsed it off, the areas where I had applied it were reddened and quite sore to the touch, but this quickly settled down. I got out my mirror, sat down by the window, and had an inspection...

Some of the hairs were blonde and barely noticable unless you actually looked for them, which was what I wanted, but a lot of them were brown (they are naturally black). I think this was because I didn't leave it on for long enough! By now the skin had really calmed down and was back to normal, so I started again. This time, it actually worked and all the hairs were blonde... but I had actually smeared some onto my eyebrows while it was working it's magic! I now had eyebrows with alluring ginger patches! I was absolutely devastated. Half my eyebrows were a fetching shade of orange, just lovely.

Once I had stopped panicking, I realised it wasn't actually that bad. I gave my eyebrows the once over with an eyebrow pencil and they look pretty much alright now (still look a bit shocking in the mornings) I have to admit, now that all the excess hairs above the actual shape of my eyebrows are blea
ched blonde, they are invisible and my eyebrows are much neater. It's also nice not to have to attack them every morning!

I noticed something else too - the skin where I had applied the bleach was lighter than the rest of my skin! Can you imagine my horror? I had visions of turning into Michael Jackson, and was ready to go back to Superdrug and complain, but the morning after, my skin was back to it's normal colour, so there's no need to worry if your skin looks lighter than usual after using the bleach. It does seem to dry out your skin though, and the day after bleaching, the areas where I had used it were flaking and dry, although this was quickly sorted out with moisturiser.

It doesn't take away the hair, but dyes it so it blends in with the skin. The hair is pretty much invisible unless you're in very strong sunlight, which, let's face it, is pretty unlikely in rainy old Britain! I'm not too sure about whether it's suitable for black people; surely if it's a bleach your hair will go white and stand out even more? I don't know any dark-skinned people who use this however, so I can't really comment. I have olive Asian skin though, and it works for me.

I would recommend Jolen, but only just. It is easy to use, is effective and works out relatively cheap, but it's also messy, can be painful and you need to be very careful. As long as you are patient and careful you shouldn't have any problems, though! It costs 4.25 from Boots and Superdrug. I can see the bleach lasting me a while, as I only use it on my eyebrows, so only need a small amount. If you use it on your arms and other areas, it could get quite pricey, though.

I have mild eczema, and although initially my skin was slightly red and irritated, the irritation quickly calmed down and I've had no advers
e effects from Jolen. It is available in a normal and mild formula. I tried the mild one, which also contains aloe vera. If that was mild, then I wonder what the normal strength bleach is like! Both versions cost 4.25 GBP, and are widely available.

Just a small tip for you though; if you buy this, ditch the spatula, and use your fingers. It just makes things ten times more fiddly to use!

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